#practicalclassics

[oldmotors]

In the eighties and nineties, there were few cars as uncool as the oft-derided #MustangII. It was very much a creature of its time, a time long out of fashion then and a slow, awkward car to boot. Indeed, it's still the #Mustang that fanboys love to hate. It's true that the Mustang II, with its #fordPinto underpinnings, iffy quality, mediocre driving dynamics, and smog-strangled engines didn't age well, but it sure did resonate with customers. The classic 1964-1970 and 1971-1973 cars were always going to be hard acts to follow, but that's not what most people were thinking about in the fall of 1973, when suddenly there were gas lines everywhere. Also, many people had cooled on the '71-'73 Mustang - well regarded today but often thought of as ponderously large and heavy back then. The Mustang II, named for car’s total reboot (today they'd call it the Mustang 2.0), was exactly right for market conditions in 1974 - smaller, lighter, far more efficient, and also offering the external appearance of luxury touches (best exemplified by this V8 #Ghia with its padded vinyl top and frilly detailing). Muscle car people hated it - the '74 model didn't even offer a V8 - but the public loved it, and bought 1.1 million of them in five years - until it was replaced by the Fox in the fall of 1978. At that time Ford’s domestic operations were really struggling, and say what you will about the II, it provided gallons of black ink. Like some contemporaries, namely the AMC Matador Coupe, the Mustang II looks overbodied today, and the styling aged quickly. A best-seller in its day, it was quickly outmoded stylistically and technologically (dynamics weren’t on par with Ford’s on European Capri, which it also competed with domesticallyl), and by the 90s, aside from the Cobra versions (mostly decal packages) they were dirt cheap - a really nice one could be had for under a grand even with a 302. The II has yet to really appreciate as a collector car, but that day is coming. #ford #fordmustang #mustang2 #mustangghia #fomoco #1976 #1970s #seventies #classiccar #practicalclassics #disco #vinyl #mellowgold #carsofinstagram #carstagram #ig_autoshow #carporn #cargram #trb_autozone 

[oldmotors]

Growing up when it was new, the tenure of the #R107 #Mercedes seemed interminable - like it had been around forever and always would be. A model of solidity and quality, this evergreen #MercedesSL lasted eighteen model years, from April of 1971 to August of 1989 - a spectacularly long tenure by the standards of pricey GTs. At the time the longest ever run of any Mercedes (since eclipsed by the G-wagen) and just as long as venerable hangers on like the MGB and Fiat Spider. The R107 had replaced the breezy, glamorous "Pagoda" SL in Europe 1971 although U.S. sales didn't begin for another year. The 107 was based on a cut down version of the W114 chassis and, over time, featured virtually every V8 #MercedesBenz built during the 70s and 80s. Base models could also be had with 2.8 and 3 liter straight sixes, but these lighter, leaner cars were not generally availalble in the U.S., and are very rare here. The R107 was glam too, like the W113 Pogoda, but it was Roxy Music to the Pogoda's Eartha Kitt. A hit from the beginning, it was in the late 1970s that the 450SL became the definitive incarnation for most Americans - made famous first by Lauren Hutton and Richard Gere's use of the 450SL in "American Gigolo" (if this car had a theme song it'd be Blondie's "Call Me") and Pamela Ewing (played by actress Victoria Principal) driving one on "Dallas." They were a huge symbol of success by 1980 - every inch a status car - but by then quite different from the original SLs. R107 (and related C107, best known as the 450SLC) were so well engineered that even after 18 years they were still basically contemporary, if a bit dated, but they were always considered boulevardiers compared to the older cars, which had more sporting pretensions. By 1985 Mercedes was already far along on what became the 1990s-era R129 replacement, a faster and more modern car. For many years R107s were cheap classics (you can still find them cheap, but they usually don’t stay that way if you do), trapped between the vintage Pagoda and the faster R129, not so much these days.  280sl #450sl #benz #blondie #americangigolo #youngtimer #practicalclassics #ig_autoshow #kings_transports #loves_vehicles #70s

[oldmotors]

Between the #Nixon shock, Opec I, the ascent of Mercedes in North America, and the cultural shifts of the seventies, the 1971-1976 Cadillacs had much to contend with. But nobody could have foreseen those things when the new B and #Cbody cars were being designed from 1967 to 1969. Cadillacs, always known for the "bigger is better" approach, would never be larger than this generation - this pre-impact-bumper '73 #CoupeDeville was 231 inches long and weighed almost 5,000 lbs. Sixty Special sedans were even larger. The D-body #Fleetwood 75, really more of a big town car than a full stretch limo, was 251 inches long and weighed three tons. But even as the cars went on sale, GM had already decided that they, like the rest of the full-sizes introduced for 1971, were a little too big. The same was true of engines. According to the late Cliff Studaker, a GM powertrain engineer who worked on Buick's famous V6, GM had engines of 520+ cubic inches on the drawing board as late as 1972 - but decided more or less organically that the big 500 V8, introduced in the Eldorado in 1970 and extended to the rest of the line later (in the early 70s, the regular Cadillacs used the still-huge 472) was about as big as was practical in a passenger car. In early #1973 GM was already looking at downsizing both cars and engines, and those products would arrive for 1977. The summer of 1973 saw continued sales success for these big cars , and it was hoped that success would carry into 1974, the first major refresh of these cars, but the gas crisis put the kibosh on that. In the eighties, when these cars were cheap and memories of gas lines were fading, these cars were common and often slightly rusty (particularly on the east coast). I loved how different they were from the cars of the eighties, and how decadent they seemed by comparison, like a seventies glam rocker at an R.E.M. concert - but their low values at the time and huge fuel costs put many of them off the road early. #cadillac #cadillacdeville #instacar #vintage #classiccar #rust #vanishedworlds #hemmings #oldmotors #practicalclassics #trb_autozone #grimelords_clunkers #dirt_merchant_autos #retro #americana #americancars #seventies

[oldmotors]

A classic #deuceandaquarter - few cars were as bold and brash and aspirational as Buick’s flagship #landyacht in the 1960s. The #Electra replaced the Roadmaster in 1959, but there were two versions - the 220” long Electra and the biggest, plushest version - the 225” long Electra 225. In the days of “bigger is better,” what better way to say “best” than actually putting the length of the car in the name?  Over time, the Electra 225 would become a mainstay of the luxury trade, even as it grew beyond 225 inches. It was a Cadillac in Tri-shield form, riding the same C-body platform as the DeVille and the related, but more conservative, Olds 98. All three C-bodies had grown to elphantine proportions by the end of the sixties but they were long, low, and luxurious, and nobody cared about single-digit fuel mileage in 1969. The Electra 225 was by then two series - the regular and the custom, with the droptop available only in the top-spec Custom series. It packed a single engine - Buick’s 430-cube, 360-hp V8 from the Wildcat. But big conservative luxury cars and not-at-all conservative convertibles were always an odd match, and even though #1969 was a really good year for the convertible, just 8,294 were made. Then as now, lots of people want convertibles, but not everybody can actually live with one. #Buick built 40,146 Electra hardtop coupes by comparison. Most Buick colors at that time, as you might expect, veered towards the conservative, but this car is finished in Cameo Cream - one of a few light colors that included Azure Blue and, the best of them all - Lime Green Iridium. Cameo Cream was not for shrinking violets - you can see this car from space. The C-body convertibles were not replaced when the big cars were redesigned in 1971 - one of the first parts of a general migration away from slow-selling droptops and towards safety legislation that left Cadillac’s Eldorado as the sole American convertible in 1976. #buick #buickelectra #buickelectra225 #electra225 #electralimited #ig_autoshow #asundaycarpic #soloparking #retro #practicalclassics #retrorides #soloparking #soulcarcollective #renegade_rides #trb_autozone #youngtimer #classiccars #americancars 

[oldmotors]

The original #Seville might have been the smallest #Cadillac in 50 years - but the division cleverly priced it at the top of it’s lineup. At $12,500 it’s MSRP was topped only by the Fleetwood 75 long-wheelbase sedan and limo. In a market used to “bigger is better,” it was smaller - but exclusivity made it seem far more than the sum of its parts (a fuel-injected Olds 350 mated to an X-body platform with new styling and plush accommodations). It dropped in April, 1975 and was trendy all through its run. Even after 1977’s changes on the big Caddies, Seville was still tres chic. Sales rose every year until 1979, when they trailed off only slightly - and the car still had enough cachet to be the most expensive mid-size car in America. Its cost, however, was light compared with say, the gas-powered Mercedes W123 280E - a few thousand dollars more and a six - though quality was in a different league in those days. The instantly-popular car proved popular and was a very trendy disco-era fashion item, even spawning imitators at Lincoln (Versailles) and Chrysler (LeBaron). During the time it was offered it was a fixture of the glamour set - there was even a Gucci special edition; and a star in Hollywood - most notoriously in 1980’s “Foxes” - but also in lots of contemporary TV shows, usually with wealthy folks riding around in them. In the end Cadillac was not really able to hang on to the younger buyers it wanted when it designed the new car. After the #disco era faded, the original was supplanted by the “razorback” for 1980. Perhaps hampered by it’s polarizing styling (which also spawned imitations at Chrysler and Lincoln) or it’s series of bad engines (it was launched with the #GM 350 Diesel standard, and endured the V-4-6-8 and HT4100 humiliations), sales were never as strong. The original was a much more solid car and a better performer in almost every way. They’re still out there today. #cadillacseville #1977 #classiccadillac #ptk_vehicles #renegade_rides #trb_autozone #ig_autoshow #ig_masterpiece #caddy #patina #dailydriver #americancars #kings_transports #loves_vehicles #1970s #seventies #generalmotors #practicalclassics #youngtimer #classiccar #retro_rides (at Santa Monica, California)

[autopaintsbrighton]

Autopaints Brighton at the Practical Classics Restoration and Classic Car Show March 2014 

www.autopaintsbrighton.co.uk

[practicalclassics-blog]

Da Book. In the window of my neighborhood bookshop and available wherever fine books are sold. eBook version out next week.

Life goal. Attained.